Page 13 – Virginia Outdoors Foundation

A note from new Preserve Specialist, Taryn

When I got the call that I was the top choice to take over as Preserve Specialist at Bull Run Mountains, I’m not embarrassed to tell you there was a lot of happy dancing involved. This job is the lifelong dream for creek-wading, animal-loving overgrown kid like myself. And though I’ve had many amazing opportunities over the course of my career so far, (I mean how many people can say they’ve been paid to swim with dogs or raise baby birds?) I jumped at this chance. Why? Because I’d finally found a place where my odd amalgamation of passions could really make a difference. Even better, it was here in my beloved home state of Virginia, AKA my favorite place in the world. It taught me places have power, and one of the best ways to share this is through the magic of storytelling. I can’t wait to start telling the stories of Bull Run Mountain Natural Area Preserve.

These two-thousand odd acres have endless tales to tell, and if I am to help bring these to light, I knew I had better start by listening. That’s why when I started, one of my first orders of business was to familiarize myself with the landscape of Bull Run through solo hikes.

To me, hiking can be quite meditative. So, like meditation, I often set an intention before I set out. For this experience, I wanted to introduce myself properly to this land, and ask what it wanted me to know and consider as I stepped into my stewardship role. That message came through loud and clear through a series of images and features I saw, pictured below.

This black swallowtail wing greeted me as I started my hike–a remnant of a brief but beautiful life surrounded by glittering mica.

This concrete cistern, likely constructed during the early twentieth century, has since been reclaimed by a lively community of frogs, insects, mosses, and fungi.

Mr. William Dawson, a 19th-century resident of the mountain, is memorialized in hybrid fashion. His hand-carved gravestone stands in a permanent embrace with a massive tulip poplar.

This preserve invited me to question one of the most basic concepts we are taught as children–opposites. Life is the opposite of death, light of darkness, and in western cultures especially, human civilization is the opposite of wilderness. My time on this hike demonstrated how arbitrary such divisions are. Life and death are intertwined, one never existing without the other. Death is not an end, nor is life a beginning. They are simply two sides of a never-ending cycle. The descendants of people and creatures long-dead still walk this mountain. The sun shines through dappled by the far-reaching trees, painting the land in ever-shifting chiaroscuro. Darkness and light color the contrasting landscape together, never completely one or the other. And just as William Dawson’s grave and the cistern-turned-frog pond showed me, what is human and what is nature are one and the same.

This preserve holds a critical reminder for our generation and those to come:

We must protect what is natural, because in doing so, we are also saving ourselves.

Talk soon,

Taryn

FUNgi!

It’s fungi season! And as I hiked around this August, I was observing them everywhere at the Bull Run Mountains Nature Preserve. So, I wanted to share with you a few facts about these fascinating organisms that are actually closer to animals than plants. With fun names like “chicken of the woods” (Laetiporus), a great variation of colors and appearance and tons of fun facts, fungi can be very interesting to study.

Fungi are living organisms that include rusts, smuts, mildews, yeast, molds, and mushrooms.

· Yeast, the same one you use to make bread

· Molds like the ones that grow on your forgotten bread

· Mushrooms, that you could use with that bread in a sandwich

A scientist that studies fungi is called a mycologist. These scientists learn about the properties of fungi, their uses to human health, and their roles in nature, including their toxicity and dangers. For example; from Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens, in the United Kingdom “Dr. Ester Gaya leads a research project at Kew, exploring the diversity and evolution of the world’s fungi” (Briggs, 2018) and Martin Bidartondo also at Kew, is a specialist in mycorrhizal fungi who spends part of his time researching and another part teaching about fungi, ecology, and conservation (Coehlo, 2009).

Just like the fictional character Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson, fungi play many important roles in health, food security, and in nature, but they also have an evil alter ego (Briggs, 2018). So, let me get the facts.

Jack Dawson Project 2020 Inventory Report

Although finalized in May, and already well used internally, we are excited to make this product of our VOF Special Project Fellow, Kellen Hope, available to all interested members of our community.

This Jack Dawson Inventory Fellowship Report was the result of VOF staff and special project fellows performing an inventory of Jack Dawson’s earnest and rich homestead, which had been shuttered left vacant since his passing.

Our VOF Fellow who led us through this challenge, Kellen Hope, received her BA in Anthropology with a minor in Mediterranean Archaeology and a MA in Museum Studies. She is currently a full-time Collections Care and Preservation Fund Contractor for the Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum. She joined the Virginia Outdoors Foundation as a 2020 Special Project Fellow to assist with the Jack Dawson Project. As a Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) Fellow and the Head of Collections and Cataloging for this special project, Kellen brought her museum expertise, research prowess, and a keen eye that helped lead the VOF Preserve team through the cataloging of Jack Dawson’s home and its contents. Thanks to Kellen this inventory will forever serve as an important historical and archaeological in situ snapshot of the unique life that was lived by Jack Dawson, within the Bull Run Mountains, between 1917 and 2012.

This inventory (and the resulting fellowship report) is just the first deliverable of many that will come from inaugural team of 2020 Special Projects fellows and interns, as we are currently pairing VOF Special Projects Fellow, Miguel Montalvo’s evocative photography of the Jack Dawson homestead site with a series of essays that will provide readers with a contextualized personable look into Jack Dawson’s life, and world, here within the Bull Run Mountains.

Our community has also been essential in this pursuit, as many of you all have provided oral histories pertaining to Jack Dawson. We hope that these stories will continue to flow from you all to us, and we will be able to anchor them as eternal glimpses into the folk that have shaped this mountain range into what it is today.

If you have any information or anecdotes about Jack Dawson, please reach out to me at jvillari@vof.org or 571-438-8957

Announcing the 2021 VOF Natural Science Fellow

I am excited to announce that our 2021 VOF Natural Science Fellow has been selected!

Lauren Fuchs is currently a PhD student at George Mason University (GMU) and an adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC). Building upon her already established research, Lauren will be evaluating snake microbial assemblages across species and infection susceptibility to the pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola (Oo) here at VOF’s Preserve at Bull Run Mountains.

Ophidiomycosis (formerly known as snake fungal disease – SFD) is an emergent fungal infection that has been associated with widespread morbidity in a multitude of North American snake species and Lauren’s research fellowship project will ensure that VOF is doing everything that we can, as Natural Area Preserve Managers, to stay ahead of this understudied conservation threat.

In addition to this fungal research, we look forward to working with Lauren to potentially developing a community scientist (and student!) fueled project that utilizes herpetological observations uploaded to the iNaturalist app!

Stay tuned to this space to learn more about our scaly, limbless friends here at Bull Run Mountains – and keep an eye out for a return of our #sciencefellowshipsaturday posts!

Welcoming our new Preserve Specialist

Fresh off the heels of introducing Marylin, we are equally thrilled to introduce our new VOF Preserve Specialist, Taryn Bromser-Kloeden!

A true and dedicated animal lover, Taryn has spent time working with one of our most important partners, the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center – and has also previously served as an Assistant Manager at one of Virginia’s SPCA facilities.

In addition to this work experience, Taryn previously completed her M.S. in Anthrozoology from Canisius College, her B.S. in Psychology at the College of William and Mary, and her A.A. at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

At Canisius College, Taryn’s thesis was “Black Vulture-Cattle Interactions in Virginia: Assessing attitudes toward and risk factors for vulture predation” and she has since continued this study through pursuing her PhD at George Mason University. Currently done with all of her coursework, Taryn is now furthering her understanding of her thesis topic through her dissertation, “Vultural Differences: A multi-species ethnography of black vulture predation on cattle in Virginia.”

With that, please make sure to give Taryn a hearty welcome and if you haven’t already been following along with our blog, now might be he time to start – as Taryn has a true gift for writing and storytelling!

Science with a View at Oak Springs Garden Foundation

The Blue Ridge Mountains lived up to their name with an uplifting blue that stood before us as we walked the tall grass. Flowers dotted the landscape, whose names I tried to quickly scribble down as the group of botanists I joined shared their knowledge.

We were at the Oak Spring Garden, located in Upperville, VA, with the collaborative mission to get an overall count of the flora and fauna of the foundation’s 700-acre property in a day’s work – a bioblitz.

Surrounded by biologists and artists who participated in the bioblitz, an eagerness to learn, passion for nature, and interesting conversations hung in the air as we started the day. It was energizing and almost unreal to see unmasked faces and smiles enjoying the outdoors in search of scientific knowledge and artistic inspiration. More than once I heard the enthusiasm of “I hope I see…”.

For Professor Andrea Weeks of George Mason University, what stood out was “certainly the weather”, as the morning was still fresh and promised a good day for botany. She had her sights set on finding a new species of dandelion for the county while attending to her student’s questions – and my own – on the plants we encountered. One of her students, Dalia Aguilar, said she was there to learn about plants, but what had called her attention was the people. We had a lively conversation in Spanish as she shared being inspired by meeting other minorities in science – like herself (“conocer gente de otras minorias como yo en la ciencia, es inspirador”).

I spent quite a while walking with Jordan Coscia, an Ecologist and PhD Candidate at Virginia Tech University, who focuses on grassland restoration and management. She patiently shared the natural history of several plants and insects, such as green metallic beetles, milkweed longhorn beetles, horse nettle, the purple flowered thistle, and how “these present a problem in land management, as it is a hardy survivor and pushes out other plants. But it is great for pollinators”.

The morning was not only about natural sciences – I had a conversation about Mayan culture and art and how all cultures are inspired by their natural surroundings with Marie Metz, a former scientific illustrator and current banknote designer for the USA Department of the Treasury. Angela Drakeford is one of OSGF’s resident artists. She is currently working on watercolors, but is usually focused on installations using plants. We shared how plants make us feel and how they can create environments that makes us more grateful and joyful. She mentioned how much she focuses on natural beauty and helping people appreciate and create it in their homes.

We all had our sights set on the species around us, trying to find the rare and beautiful or find inspiration in it. The day delivered views of mountains, grassland, tree edges, and forest paths. Everyone shared their smiles as I took photos. For me, it was a day for people and pictures, a nice pause in social distancing and a great beginning to my new adventure/challenge as the Outreach Assistant for VOF.

All together it made for a great bioblitz!

Introducing VOF’s new Outreach Assistant

I am so excited to introduce our new VOF Outreach Assistant, Marylin Veiman-Echeverría!

Marylin comes to VOF’s Preserve at Bull Run Mountains with a true wealth of experience, as she previously served as the Environmental Education Director at the La Selva Biological Station, Organization for Tropical Studies in Costa Rica.

In addition to this time at La Selva Biological Station and many other relevant professional experiences, Marylin received her M.A. in Sustainable Development for Communities from the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, her International Diploma in Environmental Education for Conservation of Natural Resources from the Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico, and her B.A. in Ecological Tourism from the Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica.

As a scientist, educator, and a loving mother currently raising two young conservationists of her own – I have no doubts that Marylin is going to become an integral part of our local community and offer up some truly top notch educational opportunities!

Remember to follow us on Meetup to see our upcoming calendar of programs – they will be tailored for folks of all ages and backgrounds!

Coming Home to Bull Run Mountain

Coming home.

This antique kerosene lantern was used by one of our mountains’ important folk historical figures, Beverley Corum, to light his way through the night.

His historic homestead was nestled within a Bull Run Mountains’ hollow, in what is now the South Section of the Preserve.

Now these mountain hollows tend to get dark early, so it is easy to imagine how essential this lantern would have been to Mr. Corum’s daily life, as he was living here well before electricity was brought into this rural area.

In the second photo, you can see Corum in-law and family member, Mr. Jim Roberts (on the left) and VOF Deputy Director, Leslie Grayson (on the right) fondly admiring this historical artifact that Beverley Corum’s granddaughter, Darlene Holmes, is holding.

We were obviously over-the-moon ecstatic that Darlene brought this gorgeous family heirloom to share with us, while out visiting her family homeplace yesterday!

Riverpalooza, Potomac Riverkeeper Network

Lydia Lawrence thinks one of the best things about teaching beginners stand-up paddleboarding is the “beginners” part. “One young lady told me that she would never have tried [a lesson] if it hadn’t been free,” she recalls. “By the end of the lesson, she said to me, ‘I always watched people do this and wondered why they looked so peaceful standing on a board in the water, but now I understand. It’s so calming out here.’”

Lydia Lawrence teaches beginners paddleboarding on the Potomac, supported by a VOF Get Outdoors grant. Photo Credit: Andrew Lawrence.

Lawrence coordinates the lessons through the Fairfax NAACP and Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN). (She serves on the boards of both organizations.) Her work for PRKN includes reaching out to communities of color, who traditionally have had less access to recreational activities on the water. “Most of all I am targeting people who would not get on the river because of barriers, either interior (they have a fear of water or getting on a paddleboard) or exterior (taking a class is too expensive).”

The Virginia Outdoors Foundation is helping to sponsor PRKN’s outreach all summer long with a $25,000 grant from its Get Outdoors Program. “That VOF grant money could subsidize these lessons is what made them so much more accessible to the community,” Lawrence says.

2021 events have included a paddle along the Trough on the South Branch of the Potomac. Photo courtesy of PRKN.

The money is also helping to make PRKN’s summer series of events, Riverpalooza, more accessible to more communities of color. Now in its seventh year, the festival is expanding its reach to those who may live close to the river but don’t have recreational access, according to Mark Frondorf, Shenandoah Riverkeeper, one of three PRKN Riverkeepers.

“Riverkeepers have been around for 20-plus years,” he states. “Our work has always had an environmental justice component in the sense of protecting vulnerable communities from polluted waters. But we’ve realized that making the river accessible to these communities is essential, too. From legacy pollution to coal ash to the price of access, we try to look at all of it.”

The aquarium “petting zoo,” set up by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, is a popular stop at Riopalooza, with bilingual Spanish/English activities set up for the whole family. Photo courtesy of PRKN.

PRKN has the language barrier covered, too, by transforming one day of the Riverpalooza series into Riopalooza, when people from Virginia’s Spanish-speaking communities can enjoy PRKN-organized events. “It’s a sort of one-stop shop of fun things to do on the river,” Frondorf explains. “Everyone is invited, but we have bilingual materials and speakers available, so everyone feels welcome.” The day includes tubing, fishing, nature walks, music and food. There’s even an aquarium “petting zoo” set up by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

Frondorf says getting everyone out to the water is his favorite part of being a Riverkeeper. “It’s hard to protect something you don’t know and love,” he states. “But if you get people out on the river and they have a great time, then they take ownership of it. The best stewards of the river are users of the river.”

Lawrence agrees. “You want to care for what you love,” she says. “But if you’re never around something, how do you know?”

Uncas Trail, City of Lexington

When Lexington native Andrew McThenia was young, the Maury River was his to explore. “We’d swim upstream from the Lexington dam to a big, still pool. We spent a lot of time hanging out down there, running around, swimming and rope swinging. My parents were fine as long as we made it back safely for dinner.”

The trail ends at a beach on the the Maury River, with views of the Chessie Nature Trail on the other side.

Now McThenia owns land along the Maury and wants to recreate some of that experience for others. Through conservation and trail easements held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council (RACC), he has protected 39 acres of forested land from development and created a river access trail in East Lexington, an area that is cut off from the rest of the city and its recreational opportunities by the Route 11 bypass.

Funding through the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) helped purchase the easement held by VOF, and VOF’s Preservation Trust Fund covered easement costs. In addition, RACC received funding from VOF’s Get Outdoors Program to make improvements on the trail.

The trail extends about three-quarters of a mile from a small parking area behind Lexington Public Works buildings, passes through deciduous forest with views of karst features and outcrops, then descends to a small beach on the river. The public benefit the trail provides is just one of the property’s conservation values, says VOF’s Laura Thurman, who worked on the project. “It forms the scenic backdrop to so many public places—the Maury River, the Chessie Trail, Bike Route 76 and Old Buena Vista Road. There’s habitat for endangered species in the sinkholes and the grassy areas. It’s a wonderful property.”

Wildflowers bloom along the trail in the spring.

McThenia says he knew the place was special when he’d see it on kayaking trips on the river. As a hydrogeologist, he could read the bend in the river and see how it was formed by slow-moving waters that meandered through the area millions of years ago, eventually entrenching their curves into the bedrock itself. His hunch about the property’s ecological importance was right; it’s included in the Lexington Barrens and Bluffs Conservation Site, a 400-acre area designated by Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation as habitat for rare terrestrial plants. Several of these plant and animal species have been found on the property, including a rare grass, Melica nitens, or three-flower melic.

“I wanted to permanently protect the property with a conservation easement,” McThenia says, but the land was zoned for suburban residential development. “My father was the one who understood that providing public access would be an incentive for [the City of Lexington] to allow a conservation easement within city limits.” McThenia worked to pass an amendment to the plan that would allow for conservation easements on properties within Lexington that had access to recreational waters. The trail is named “Uncas” in his father’s honor, after a childhood nickname.

McThenia posted the existing trail sign for users, but RACC plans to use grant money from VOF’s Get Outdoors Program to add additional signs, construct an informational kiosk, and start a “friends” group for the trail.

Plans for the trail include the addition of an information kiosk, trash cans, educational signs and the creation of a “friends” group, says RACC’s Chris Wise. “There is a community group living within walking distance of the trail. We want to see them using that trail, keeping an eye out for that trail, and loving that trail. That’s what we’re working toward.”

To see a brief video on the trail with directions on how to access it and a map, go to Lexington’s Trails Less Traveled page.